A post-game quote from Mike Babcock had everybody (OK, the media) buzzing today. If you missed it, the Detroit coach dinged Devin Setoguchi for falling to the ice late in the second period after contact with Red Wing forward Valterri Filppula.

“It’s a penalty, but don’t dive and embellish it,” Babcock said. “You’re from Western Canada, don’t do that crap.”

The Western Canada reference, of course, made the charge more memorable.

Setoguchi was one of maybe a dozen players who opted out of an optional practice, but he left the training room to hold court in the locker room on the subject. Setoguchi, if you recall, drew both penalties that gave the Sharks the 5-on-3 advantage that led to the winning goal.

“Anyone who clearly saw the replay, it was a one-handed slap right in the face,” Setoguchi said of the high-sticking penalty on Filpulla. “I actually got hit pretty hard. It’s just a play that happens in a game.”

And that Western Canada insult part of Babcock’s statement?

“Emotions get high in the playoffs,” Setoguchi said. “People say stuff. If you ever watch me throughout the year, I don’t think I’m considered a diver. I just do my part out there and try to help my team out. It’s just one of those things where I think he was a little emotional after the game. We made a 5-on-3 out of it and got the winning goal.”

Did Babcock say anything to him at the time?

“There was a little eye contact,” Setoguchi said. “Like I said, it’s an emotional game. As hockey players we wear out hearts on our sleeves and get fired up more than anybody in any other sport.”

Did he think Babcock was trying to get in the referee’s head for next game?

“Or try to get in my head,” Setoguchi said. “It’s one of those things where it comes down to you try to do anything to get an advantage in a series and it’s such a short period of time. You’ve got seven games to try to win and move on. Whatever was said was said and we’ve got a game to play Sunday.”

(Hmmm. Guess you could read part of that quote two ways.)

“For myself, I thought it was kind of funny, but anytime there’s a direct comment toward you you look at it,” Setoguchi continued. “I don’t think I was trying to sell the penalty. Anyone who saw the replay can watch it again and it was right in the mouth.”

What happend on the Franzen penalty that saw Setoguchi’s stick cut the Detroit center’s face after their open-ice collision. Setoguchi wasn’t penalized, presumably because the officials thought that Franzen’s tripping infraction set things in motion that led to Franzen being cut.

“That’s another play where I had not control,” Setoguchi said. “I haven’t seen the replay of it, but I was just skating backward and all of a sudden got clipped. I was trying to protect myself from falling backward on my head or on my shoulder.

“I was opening up to the puck and either we caught legs and I was heading back fast. It was just kind of a reaction thing,” he continued. “I don’t know if I hit him on the face before or after. I couldn’t tell you.”

Todd McLellan made it clear that he thought his Detroit counterpart was playing psychological games, trying to get a few officiating breaks later in the series.

“I’ve been in that locker room before and I know he’s a very bright and intelligent guy,” he said of Babcock. “He sets himself up for his organization and his team well. They do a really good job of setting up games 2, 3 and 4. And you don’t win Stanley Cups and you don’t win gold medals without having that tack.”

Did McLellan think Babcock’s comment had merit?

The officials who handled Game 1 “have done close to 2,000 games and if they thought there was any embellishment going, either the teal team or the red and white team, I’m sure they would have put a stop to it right off the bat. They have a tough job to do and they don’t want to be shown up at all. I think the 2,000 games speaks for itself.”

****Here’s what McLellan had to say this afternoon on Patrick Marleau’s absence from Game 1:

“Patty quite simply had the flu. And everybody’s going to guess and second guess, say it was this and that. He had a temperature that wasn’t healthy. He was at the rink today. He’s looking a lot better. He’s got some fluids into him, he’s had an IV and we expect him to play on Sunday.”

Marleau had left the rink before media had access to the locker room.

****The Red Wings were scheduled to skate at Sharks Ice this afternoon, but canceled their practice.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.